Dans The Cruise of The Snark (1911), Jack London raconte son périple en voilier dans le Pacifique
La croisière commence par une étape à Hawaii :
(...) The next morning it was boots and saddles, and with cow-boys and pack-horses we climbed to Ukulele,
a mountain ranch-house, the altitude of which, fifty-five hundred feet, gives a severely temperate climate,
compelling blankets at night and a roaring fireplace in the living-room. Ukulele, by the way, is the Hawaiian
for "jumping flea" as it is also the Hawaiian for a certain musical instrument that may be likened to a young
guitar. It is my opinion that the mountain ranch-house was named after the young guitar. We were not in a
hurry, and we spent the day at Ukulele (...).
Ce passage bien connu semble être la première mention de l'ukulélé en littérature...